Body of God

[The Sum of Awe]

I am seeking to exchange pantheistic views on God so I can compare.

Mainly because I am not entirely sure if what I'm describing is closer to panentheism or pantheism.

Basically God is the all, the sum of reality, and the universe is his body. Every single thing in existence is just another part of him. I view God to be impersonal though, consciously at least. Or if he isn't, we should live independent of him, let the natural happen as it happens. That way the mistakes will be our own mistakes and the wins will be our wins, and we are the ones who come up with a goal for ourselves, and nobody else can do it exactly how you want it done.

The way nature is - influenced by weather, animals, humans, etc - is the very process of God's body's inner workings. We are not only surrounded by God, but we are a part of him. And once you die you become recycled once again into the matrix, reused.

You are made of the material that begat you, the material that keeps you going presently, and the material that will destroy you.

 

[idav]

If you are going to get into panentheism then mind comes into the picture as something sorta transcendent. With pantheism I think it is more accurate that the mind is a part of what you describe as the body which pretty much means all of existence. It makes sense to me that the mind would be influenced by the body and vice versa, however the parts can't really know the sum, the mind, and the mind can't really know the body other than what the laws of physics will allow. Thats my take on it.

 

[Storm]

Gee, this sounds familiar....

 

[Ouroboros]

Basically God is the all, the sum of reality, and the universe is his body. Every single thing in existence is just another part of him. I view God to be impersonal though, consciously at least. Or if he isn't, we should live independent of him, let the natural happen as it happens. That way the mistakes will be our own mistakes and the wins will be our wins, and we are the ones who come up with a goal for ourselves, and nobody else can do it exactly how you want it done.

I can't say God in my pantheistic view can have a body. A body is a finite construct, entity, thing, temporal, that is, while I see God not just as the bodies, things, temporal or otherwise that exists, but also beyond that. The eternal, infinite, force, power, substrate of the very fabric of existence itself, the thing from which a "body" can be made. So God, in my view, has a body (universe) and not (the ground, framework, non-body "thing" beyond). The answer then for me is, yes and no.

I see the totality of things as being more than just the things we can understand. The ground of being is not bound by time, space, or even existence. It's more of a force. Some call it "spirit", but I even find that degrading or limiting. It's like calling a computer a corkscrew. To me, it's even beyond how we think of life and mind. It's the unifying void at the center of all things moving.

The way nature is - influenced by weather, animals, humans, etc - is the very process of God's body's inner workings. We are not only surrounded by God, but we are a part of him. And once you die you become recycled once again into the matrix, reused.

Yup. I agree with that.

The universe could be seen as a body of God, but not the body (in my view).

You are made of the material that begat you, the material that keeps you going presently, and the material that will destroy you.

Amen.

 

[Orbit]

"I think of pantheism as "the universe, and everything in it, IS God", where panentheism says that plus that God transcends and includes the universe. Hope that helps.

 

[metis]

Generally speaking, most of us Jews that drift in this direction tend not to try and differentiate where we're coming from in terms of pantheism or panentheism as it appears to be beyond our job classification.

 

[Baladas]

In my view, the Divine is the entirety of what we could ever possibly comprehend and more. It extends beyond every conceivable limitation into Infinity.